Assisted Suicide – Family Council

Guest Column: In Canada, ‘Right’ to Die Becomes Recommendation to Die

Dec 26, 2023John StonestreetEuthanasia and Assisted SuicideAssisted Suicide, Euthanasia, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

Last year, the Canadian government sanctioned the killing of 13,241 people by the euphemistically named Medical Assistance in Dying. MAiD accounted for 4.1% of all deaths in Canada in 2022 and is the fifth leading cause of death in that country.

The slide down this slippery slope began by first legalizing doctor-assisted suicide for people facing “imminent death” and then expanding it step by step until it was available to virtually anyone who asks for it.

In fact, now Canadians don’t even need to ask. Doctors and nurse practitioners there have been told they have a professional obligation to bring up the option of MAiD to any patients considered “eligible.” That kind of suggestion can sound an awful lot like a recommendation to someone struggling with whether or not to live.

These numbers are just going up, and they will until enough Canadians refuse to participate in Canada’s culture of death.

Hiding the Stats on MAiD: Guest Column

Dec 12, 2023John StonestreetEuthanasia and Assisted SuicideAssisted Suicide, Euthanasia, Life, Pro-life, Sanctity of Human Life

Late last month, the Vital Statistics Council for Canada released new data about the country’s 2022 death rate, citing cancer, heart disease, and COVID-19 as the leading causes of death. Conspicuously absent was the number of Canadians killed under their country’s “Medical Assistance in Dying” program, which was 13,241 deaths last year.

When the public noticed the omission, Canadian officials clarified: MAiD deaths are officially attributed to whatever ailment the person cited as the reason for their suicide. Given how expansive MAiD has become, that means there will be deaths attributed to autism, anxiety, and other non-fatal conditions.

Not only will this hide the skyrocketing numbers of people in Canada dying by state-assistance, it will distort the data public health officials need to track diseases and health trends. Worst of all, it sends the message that disabilities, mental illness, and suffering in general can be as fatal as cancer if we’re not strong enough to handle them.

That is, like this “official report,” a lie.

Guest Column: Canada to Legalize Killing Drug Addicts

Nov 30, 2023John StonestreetEuthanasia and Assisted SuicideAssisted Suicide, Euthanasia

In roughly five months, it will be legal in Canada for doctors to kill patients struggling with mental illness or drug addiction who choose the country’s so-called “Medical Assistance in Dying” program. Last year, 13,241 Canadians died by MAiD.

Supporters of MAiD for people with drug addiction promise that safeguards will be put in place, such as requiring multiple attempts at substance abuse treatment first. MAiD became legal for Canadians facing “imminent” natural death in 2016, and the “limits” set then have eroded every year since.

The evil of MAiD isn’t just the false promises. It’s the propaganda of redefining every word of the euphemism. What’s being offered isn’t medical, it isn’t assistance, and it’s not medical assistance as someone is dying. It’s aiding and abetting someone to die—more and more people, in fact, who aren’t terminal or even untreatable, but who are all valuable image bearers of God.